Meet our ACES
Unique solutions for your enterprise’s challenges. At Avaya, we bring enthusiasm, skill, and agility to create amazing experiences for your enterprise—and your customers.
Meet some of our people - the ACES who work every day to bring the best technology and implementations to your business
Jeff Johnson
Cloud Enterprise Architect
View leader bioJeff Johnson
“My favorite part of my role is helping customers add new capabilities to their workplaces.”
With years of experience in creating, migrating, integrating, and growing contact centers around the world, ACES know how to tackle any challenge a customer brings. When Jeff, who has 32 years with Avaya, starts on a new client project he learns “as much as I can about where the customer currently is and where they need to go. From there I can make a map for how we can help them.” Then Jeff coordinates tasks among other ACES architects, deployment teams, and the customer.
When a customer needed 911 services for agents who worked from home, Jeff led Avaya’s integration with a new 911 vendor. “I worked with the vendor to get their product deployed in our cloud and worked with the customer to set up 911 location services for the agents’ home addresses.”
Jeff says that being an Enterprise Architect “is fun for me because it combines my love of technology with my ability to relate to people.”
Judi Halperin
Principal Consultant
View leader bioJudi Halperin
“I’m passionate about designing and applying technology to our customers’ real-life use cases.”
Covering North America, Judi works with Avaya clients every day, focused on enhancing customer experiences. She defines and deploys solutions that can include custom self-service and virtual agent design, AI, speech recognition, speech synthesis, application optimization, and much more. “I also manage vendor relationships for third-party services such as voice talent and transcription.”
Judi’s 16 years at Avaya have honed her knowledge and skills in creating best-in-class custom solutions for customers. She’s a great problem solver, listens to her clients and interprets their needs and requirements, then designs a solution—all while educating customers about the process and the technologies in play.
With every new project, Judi gets a complete view of the challenge by meeting with people in different roles across the customer’s business. She says, “I establish my role as trusted advisor by learning everything I can about the customer's business—processes, user demographics, and project goals. To ensure customer satisfaction, I help uncover low hanging fruit for current or future phases and help provide insight into where current processes may not be optimal from a customer experience perspective.”
Yong Sun
Senior Software Architect
View leader bioYong Sun
“I always remember a customer’s smile and handshake.”
Across the APAC region, Yong provides custom software design and development, and systems integration to customers migrating to a full or hybrid cloud solution.
On being an ACES member, Yong says, he finds the team works harmoniously to serve customers well. “There’s mutual inspiration and positive influence among colleagues. We focus on and have a strong sense of responsibility towards work.” He’s always up for a new project, where innovation is top of mind and experience can be gained. To keep meeting customers’ new needs, “I am committed to staying up to date with the latest technology and market trends.”
He keeps customer satisfaction in the forefront by paying attention and communicating with customers from past projects, proactively reaching out, and quickly responding to any customer concerns. The goal, he says, “is to always ensure system stability and continuous improvement for customers.”
Tyler Keck
ACES Global Security Practice Leader
View leader bioTyler Keck
“I love the puzzle—solving problems creatively, then automating the solution.”
Tyler is an accomplished Security Practice Leader at Avaya with 30 years experience meeting needs and exceeding expectations. A trailblazer, Tyler has traveled the world developing secure Unified Communications solutions for Avaya clients.
Tyler provides the vision, mentoring, and support that keep Avaya’s security practices cutting-edge. No matter the challenge, his team faces it head-on, crafting elegant solutions for complex problems.
Creating positive experiences through thoughtful automation is what drives Tyler toward excellence. His passion for providing the highest level of support helps Avaya clients achieve their business goals. Our clients often express their gratitude for his expert knowledge and dedicated service.
Jessica Fend
Cloud Enterprise Architect
View leader bioJessica Fend
“I love serving as a trusted advisor for our customers.”
With a distinguished career spanning several years in Avaya, Jessica has been instrumental in architecting advanced solutions for Avaya's enterprise clients. Her role brings her directly to Avaya customers, where her knowledge and experience customizing existing Avaya products, developing novel solutions, and designing intricate integrations make her a valuable resource for cloud and experience platform clients.
Taking ownership is a cornerstone of Jessica's success. She thrives on the opportunity to bring people together to solve complex problems. Customer satisfaction is a lasting commitment for Jessica. She achieves that satisfaction through robust solution designs, meticulous testing, and a relentless pursuit of the best user experiences and returns on investment.
Julio Cesar Peña
Technical Lead
View leader bioJulio Cesar Peña
“Knowing that I contribute to enabling our clients to deliver enhanced services to their users gives me a strong sense of purpose and fulfillment.”
With 7 years at Avaya, Julio serves as a Technical Lead in robust implementations. He spearheads voice services integration, ensuring quality and security. Julio's expertise spans networking and security, making him an indispensable asset for Avaya clients.
Julio focuses on consistently embracing new technologies to be able to adapt to evolving landscapes. This provides him not only with immense professional satisfaction but also empowers him to excel as a consultant and leader, ensuring that Avaya continues to deliver exceptional service to our clients.
Whether starting a new project or collaborating directly with clients, Julio focuses on effective communication to build trust and create an environment that provides Avaya clients with the best knowledge-sharing techniques, tools, and practices. Customer focus and solutions are always top-of-mind for Julio, as shown by his dedication to all of our clients.
Nichioka Fabio
Professional Services
View leader bioNichioka Fabio
“We put ourselves in the customer's shoes to understand their needs and deliver solutions that truly meet them."
For nearly 17 years, Fábio has been a driving force within Avaya's Professional Services team in Brazil. Whether it’s managing projects marked by complexity and challenges, meticulous planning, risk assessment, or delivering services that exceed customer expectations, Fábio leverages his expertise to prepare impactful solutions and explore alternatives for clients.
When embarking on a new project or engaging with a client, Fábio's approach includes understanding the client's business, collaborating with the pre-sales team, and evaluating the best implementation strategy.
Fábio ensures lasting customer satisfaction by sharing knowledge with support teams, operations, and the customer's technical staff. This dissemination of knowledge expedites problem-solving and empowers customers to harness Avaya's solutions fully.
Ricardo Kaligari
APS Senior Consultant
View leader bioRicardo Kaligari
“I love solving the challenges that each new project brings."
Ricardo is an award-winning problem-solver with 22 years of experience working with Avaya's cutting-edge technologies. He manages, secures, and helps deploy new products for Avaya's Unified Communications solutions and Contact Centers. Around our headquarters, Ricardo is known as "The Magician."
When a challenge arises, Ricardo jumps at the opportunity to solve it. He works directly with customers— troubleshooting, problem-solving, and anticipating needs before problems arise. He is solutions-driven and customer-focused, with a keen ability to communicate complex technical concepts. Drawing from a profound understanding of expectations, Ricardo and his team help ensure successful outcomes and provide attentive customer service.
Ricardo loves what he does, and it shows in his work. Customers know that they will always get a personal touch and one-to-one engagement when working with this Avaya team.
Craig Schnoor
Enterprise Architect
View leader bioCraig Schnoor
“The goal is to implement a solution with no doubts or what-ifs.”
Craig is a solutions architect with a passion for creating happy customers. During his 11 years with Avaya, Craig has helped design some of our most robust solutions for the public sector.
Craig provides projects with the quality-focused vision and technical ability needed to ensure successful outcomes for Avaya clients. To Craig, creating long-lasting client relationships means identifying a project's unknowns and eliminating uncertainty.
With a keen eye for detail and the ability to approach challenges from multiple angles, Craig consistently helps turn client dreams into technical realities. The term "unstoppable" has been thrown his way on multiple occasions.
David McGlynn
Enterprise Architect
View leader bioDavid McGlynn
"Solving problems and contributing to corporate success drive my passion."
With three years at Avaya, David is an adept Enterprise Architect specializing in cloud architecture design and integration. He collaborates closely with sales and customers, translating requirements into actionable solutions. David's expertise encompasses strategy development, low-level planning, and overseeing essential quality assurance and disaster recovery tests.
David's hallmark is overcoming challenges through leadership, consulting, and communication skills. David focuses on uniting internal and external teams, culminating in the realization of customer goals.
David ensures customer satisfaction by meticulously preparing handover documentation, facilitating knowledge transfer, and remaining accessible long after go-live. His commitment is matched only by his passion for fostering outstanding contact center experiences in Avaya's evolving cloud platform.